It is commonplace that a vehicle driver while driving needs to obtain directions to a desired destination. The driver may utilize a mobile phone to call an operator for such directions. After the driver provides to the operator information concerning his/her whereabouts and desired destination, the operator retrieves from a map server an appropriate route to the destination, and turn-by-turn driving directions thereto. The operator typically provides the directions to the driver over the phone all at the same time.
However, it is inconvenient for a driver while driving to write down the directions provided by the operator, let alone the fact that the driver is normally unequipped to do so. For a relatively short trip, the driver may be able to commit the directions to memory. For a relatively long trip, the driver may need to repeatedly call for operator assistance to refresh his/her memory of the directions. In that case, the driver most likely is connected to a different operator each time and needs to re-convey his/her whereabouts and repeat the desired destination to the operator, thus causing significant inconvenience to the driver.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a technique for effectively providing a user of a communication device with travel directions to his/her desired destination, where the communication device is widely utilized which includes, e.g., a telephone, mobile phone, personal digital assistant (PDA), facsimile device, pager, short message service (SMS) device, etc.